Hugo Chavez welcomes Sean Penn to Venezuela

"Welcome to Venezuela, Mr. Penn. What drives him is consciousness, the search for new paths," Chavez said Wednesday in a televised speech. "He's one of the greatest opponents of the Iraq invasion."

He then read aloud from an open letter from Penn condemning the Iraq war and calling for the impeachment of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice, adding they are "villainously and criminally obscene people."

They haven't met personally yet, but spoke by telephone - "with my bad English but we understood each other more or less." I'll bet that's true.

Chavez called the actor "well-informed about what is happening in the United States and the world, in spite of being in Hollywood."

You can understand his surprise.

What is it about leftist, Marxist knuckleheads that makes them fall in love with leftist, Marxist knuckleheads?